Save Me
by SqLib
Summary: Five years ago Logan put Veronica on a train, when she comes back, is there still a place for her in his world? LoganVeronica.
1. Busy Terminals

**Disclaimer- I do not own Veronica Mars or any thing to it affiliated. **

Veronica stepped onto the platform gripping the handle of her bag and scanning the crowd for the face of someone she hoped would come. She hadn't seen him in over five years, but sometimes it seemed like just yesterday he'd driven her to this very depot and kissing her goodbye as hard as he could, put her on the10:30 for New Orleans. She'd dated other guys since then-three, to be exact- but, they never lived up to him; _Funny_, she thought, in high school she wouldn't have given him the time of day, and here she was six and half years later looking for him in a busy terminal.

"Veronica?" a male voice said behind her. She spun around.

"Wallace! You came…" she wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him into a hug.

"Of course I came. I'm your best friend remember. Even though you don't call nearly as often as you should and you _never _visit..."

"Oh, Wallace, did you miss me?" She smiled cheekily.

"Give me your bag." He growled and led her out to the car. She glanced once more at the quickly weaving crowd. _Oh well…_

"Well, as much as I enjoy the vocal stylings of Jamie Lynn Spears, its kind of weird that you haven't said more than two words since we got into the car," she said. He looked at her with a strange look on his face. "Is there something you don't want to tell me?" His grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Wallace? Oh, Walllleeeeeeeeeee?" His expression was pained, but he managed a smile anyway. "Spit it out Wallace." She commanded. He didn't answer. "Okay, you leave me no choice. I'll guess….uhm, let me see… you and Duncan came out and are now living together in homosexual bliss?" He gave her a look. "Oooh! You and Weevil opened a snowball stand in the valley?"

"It's Logan." The smile slipped off her face.

"What about Logan?" Every line in her face was tight.

"He's engaged."


	2. Party

"This isn't a good idea. I should go." They were standing in front of Duncan's house and she was holding a bottle of wine, strongly resisting the urge to pop it open and swallow it down as fast as she could before someone opened the door. Wallace raised an eyebrow and gave her one his looks.

"Will you calm down? Everything is going to be fine."  
"Wallace! Veronica! I thought he was lying when you said you were coming." Duncan hugged her warmly. She smiled and handed him the bottle.

"Great. I'll go put it in the kitchen." He started to walk away. "We'll catch up later."

"That a threat?" He shook his head, _she's always the same._

_

* * *

_

_Well, Duncan is officially a bachelor _she thought running her fingers over the dusty mantel and the collection of Dvd's and play station 2 games. She picked up a picture, one she used to have a copy of at home, of her, Lilly, Duncan and Logan laughing at some crazy crack Lilly had made. _I always loved this picture._ She ran her fingers over the glass. _Lilly... _Something behind her creaked, she set down the picture and turned around slowly.

"Ronnie…you came." She smiled weakly .His eyes were wide and he had that same expression on his face, the one he used to have after she kissed him.

"Hey Logan." He swallowed hard.

"You, ah…," he waved his hands nervously, "You look great."

"Well sir, I declare. Any more from you and I'm apt to blush."

"And you still have that same jackass sense of humor. You haven't changed a bit." It was her turn to smile.

"You have. I'm not sure how…" she looked up at him. "But in a good way." _I can't believe he's just standing there. _There was silence again, but their relationship, their romance, had always been a quiet one and she was comforted by the fact that that, at least, had not changed.

"Well, I don't think we've been introduced." A short brunette walked in waving her hand, letting the light bounce off the large diamond on her finger. She waltzed over to Logan and placed her arm around his shoulder protectively. They stared at her.

"Well, honey?" she whined. He snapped out of his daze.

"Of course… Amber this is Veronica Mars. Ron-," He shook his head," Veronica this is Amber Jason."

"His fiancée," she added tightening her hold. Veronica held out her hand graciously. _Where did he find this one. _

"It's so nice to meet you. Congratulations" Amber sniffed and shook her hand. Their eyes met and the challenge sent from Veronica's eyes to Amber was unmistakable; if Logan hadn't known any better he would have sworn Veronica was about to punch his fiancée. Wallace walked in, assessed the situation and knew he should probably get his best friend out of that room as quickly as possible.

"Veronica… there you are. I've been looking for you everywhere." She beamed.

"Have you?"

"I sure have. Duncan is dying to tell you about this new magazine he's starting. Says he needs a killer photographer."

"Well, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't help him out?" Her eyes told him he worried too much, _I wasn't planning on doing anything. _He chuckled inwardly. _Sure you weren't._ "I'll see you guys later." Veronica gave a small wave. "Bye Amber, Logan." Wallace led her out of the room.

_

* * *

_

_She opened her eyes to a knock on her window._

_"Logan?" she yawned. "What time is it?" He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah…Let you in, right." He stepped over the ledge and threw his bag in the corner. _

_"Your Dad?" he whispered._

_"Out on a big case. He left Backup." He smiled and kissed her lightly. _

_"Let's go to sleep." Veronica took his hand and he followed her to her bed where they slid under the covers. He felt her weight against him as she lay her head on his shoulder and breathed in deeply. The scent of her hair was clean, her skin soft under his hand and he felt completely at peace. This is what she could do for him, she could turn his life upside down in a fraction of a second and set everything right just by breathing. It had become a routine with them, a way being together without needing to examine things; he knew it wasn't completely physical attraction, wasn't sure if it was spiritual, emotional or whatever, he just needed her. And she needed him. _

_"No monkey business," she murmured into his chest._

_"I wouldn't dream of it." _

_"Make sure you don't." Darkness fell, the house settled; the next time he looked down she was asleep, smiling a smile only a precious few had ever seen and letting her hand sooth his quickened heartbeat. _

* * *

"Veronica looked the same," he said, "Didn't she look the same?"

"I didn't know her before." Amber slurred, clearly bored with the subject at hand.

"She looked the same." He waved a hand absently.

"If you say so." She stumbled slightly and giggled.

"Whoa, Amber, maybe you had a little too much."

"I don't think so." She inched up so that she was looking straight into his eyes and her body was pressed against his. "I think I had just enough." He smirked.

"You have, have you?"

"Uh, huh," she replied teasingly biting her lower lip. She stumbled and fell into a parked car setting of an alarm. "Whoa. Shhhh!" She giggled. _That's my girl… _

"I think its time I brought you home." He helped her into the passenger seat.

"Okay hubby." She reached up to kiss him. In the time it took Logan to walk to the other side, she was completely asleep.

"Definitely had too much." She snored in agreement.


	3. A picture's worth a thousand words

The silence of his apartment was deafening after a night of excitement; he thought back on the party's constant motion and Amber's apartment with its cacophony of television screens, CD player and timers. He'd designed his apartment to be quiet and warm, _my fortress of solitude, _to cut him off from the stream of societal pettiness and immerse himself in though: most of the time he seemed to go through life on autopilot, only at home could he take the time to think it through, to think of her, about Lilly, Veronica and yes, sometimes even his mother, of the woman who would elude him his whole life.

"She was almost exactly the same," he thought, "She looked great."

"She looked like herself," said Lilly. He nodded, she did, _a tiny orb of pure light_.

"Always the poet," replied Lilly shaking her head of blond hair.

"Yeah." Logan picked up one of the only framed pictures in the apartment; there were no people in that picture, no grinning family members, no birthday parties, just a simple black and white shot of the ocean at night. When Amber had asked where he'd got it, he'd said a friend had taken it, but he'd never bothered to specify. The truth was that it was the only evidence of his relationship with Veronica that wasn't stuffed in the box in the closet, the one memory that hurt more to forget than remember.

_He waited for her at the corner, far enough from her house so that her father wouldn't hear when they peeled out._

"_Hi." Veronica said kissing him sweetly and slipping into the seat beside him. _

"_You ready?" he asked her with his foot hovering over the accelerator. She nodded._

_I was happy, _he thought, _we were happy_, _we were alone…_ _no weird looks, no expectations, just me and Ronnie listening to the ocean and waiting for the sun to come up. _

"_Here's a picture to remember me by," she had said. _That voice had haunted him for years, but things had a tendency to do that didn't they?

* * *

Veronica pushed the play button on her answering machine only to find herself confronted with Duncan's overly cheerful voice.

"Dinner, my house, be there at nine."

_Less like an invite, more like an order. All hail King Duncan…Whatever happened to the days they used to ignore me?_ she asked herself.I think you know." said the voice in her head. Veronica sighed.

_"Come on, I'll drive you home on the back streets." Logan had said his forehead pressed to hers staring straight into her eyes._ That's all it had taken; she'd known then that it was no use hiding from it all anymore, she'd known the instant he'd kissed her the second time.


	4. I am a Golden God

Two hours later she found herself in front of Duncan's door again. She heard voices from inside and she thought she could distinguish the difference between the footsteps. She remembered Weevil with his casual lunging steps, Wallace with his light, hesitant stride, and Duncan always slow and taking his time, but most of all, she remembered Logan with his cocky faltering walk, _a little boy in a man's shoes_. If she listened long enough, she might be able to hear their fears and joys. She knocked hesitantly.

"There's my girl!" bellowed Weevil as the door shot open and a large bear like man enveloped her.

"Weevil, hey!...Okay…Oh God, I can't breath," he laughed and set her down.

"Come on in and tell your friends what you've been up to for the last six years."

* * *

When she woke up the next morning, Veronica was surprised to find herself on Duncan's couch, a pillow under her head, covered in a blanket and surrounded by four snoring men. She smiled to herself; _in high school she'd have been called a five letter word for something like this. _Avoiding stepping on the wine bottles, she padded into the kitchen- someone had taken off her sneakers too- and after searching through the refrigerator poured herself a glass of orange juice from a carton with an acceptable expiration date.

"Good morning," said Logan rubbing his eyes and running his fingers through his ruffled hair.

"Morning," silently she handed him a glass and the carton. "Thanks, by the way." He looked at her questioningly and Veronica gestured toward the room."

"My girl doesn't sleep on the floor," he said quietly. _My girl…_The sound of crashing glass and Spanish obscenities came from the other room.

"I am never drinking again!" yelled Weevil. He stepped onto a piece of glass. "Yaaahhh! NEVER!"

"I hate wine," murmured Wallace from the floor.

_Veronica heard someone outside yell something that sounded a lot like, "I am a golden God." _Someone has seen "Almost Famous" way too many times, _she thought amused. She heard the person yell again and the voice seemed mildly familiar. _

"_Dang it!" she ran outside where Wallace was standing on the roof overlooking the pool waving his arms and yelling emphatically._

"_I am a Golden God!" the crowd cheered._

"_Wallace!" yelled Veronica._

"_Veronica!" He yelled back cheerfully. _

"_What are you doing?" _

"_I am a Golden God!" the crowd cheered again. _

"_Wallace, come down now!" A look of worry crossed his face, he nodded and then he was flying through the air and crashing into the pool. She saw a flash of yellow and Logan dived in after him. _

"_I hate wine." Said a dripping Wallace as Logan carried him inside "I hate wine." _

* * *

Logan opened the trashcan and poured in the six bottles of wine. _Geez, did we really drink that much? _It had taken about an hour, but Duncan's house was regaining the semblance of clean. Duncan walked over casually and leaned on the counter.

"So, uh dude, it must be weird for you." he paused, "You know with Veronica and all?" Logan raised an eyebrow and Duncan threw up his hands. "Come on man. I've been patient for six years, you gotta tell me." Logan was silent. "Dude?"

"There isn't anything to say. She was here and then she wasn't. End of story," he stabbed the buttons on the dishwasher. "Except of course for the fact where my father made her leave." He punched the machine angrily.

"What!"

"My dad, made her go away. Told her she wasn't any good for me and that she should go. Don't know why she listened, but she did and she left. I didn't find out till it was too late. Three years after she stopped calling and my life was hell again."

"That's freaking insane."

"You tell me," he whispered, "But I have Amber now."

"Yeah, you have Amber." Duncan swallowed. Neither of them was very convinced.

* * *

"Well sweetie. The church wasn't available till next March. I had to take it for the twentieth."

"But Amber, that's like, two weeks." She pouted.

"But we love each other right?" Amber pushed herself up against him. He nodded. "Then why wait?" _Yeah, why wait…_Logan gave her his best attempt at a smile. "Then its set. I'll start getting every thing ready." She squeaked and then, planting a wet glossy kiss on his cheek skipped, out of the room. "Love ya!" she waved.

"Love you too." He answered and the door slammed. "I'll get started on those calls."

* * *

The phone still clutched in her hand, she settled onto the couch for a nice long session of Friday Night Standup. The wedding was in two weeks, _two weeks._ She didn't know how she was going to handle that. Was she going to go? She had to go, she and Logan were friends now, right? _How did things get so screwed up? _

"_You have to leave," he slurred. Mr. Echolls had arrived out of nowhere stinking of gin and a cigarette clamped precariously in his hand _

"_I'm sorry?" she asked confused. _

"_You have to leave. Logan. You have to leave him."_

"_Why?" Veronica was starting to get angry. _

"_You have to. Or I-" he stopped._

"_You'll what? Hurt me? Or him maybe? I'm not scared of you."_

"_You'll ruin his life. You've already ruined his life." Aaron Echolls wasn't attractive when he snarled. "He's going to give up everything for you. He's already turned down Harvard for you." _He said he didn't get in. _"Your bad news, like your mother and you'll only kill his future." Veronica looked over at Logan joking around with a group of his friends. He felt her eyes and looked up; his smile nearly broke her heart._

She hadn't wanted to listen to him, had almost decided not to, but she was seventeen and she loved Logan more than anyone else in her life. She had no one to ask, her father was dead, her mother in a psychiatric unit in New Orleans and her friends could hardly be impartial._ He doesn't need this, _she had thought, _he'll be better off without me._ The next morning he put her on a train and she watched him disappear in the crowd.

"Visiting my mother..." Veronica laughed bitterly. She was always good at making up stories.


End file.
